But the German rejected suggestions that the injury list he has had to contend with of late is down to anything but poor luck.

He added: "It's an intense season and things like this can happen. All the injuries we had were different, different players had a few more during the season.

"It's a little bit [like] you start at one point then it happens a few times again. Dejan Lovren had, for four weeks, a knee issue - nothing was fatigue, it's kind of [because] the body is a very complex thing and sometimes a little thing has a big influence.

"We took a little time to find [the cause], a lot of specialists were looking for it. Then he was fit again and then he got a knee in his back when we trained set-pieces.

"That happens too, but it was very painful, these things happen.

"There are different reasons for it, for all of us, it's a long season and especially players who play for their national teams. No breaks, it's always: go, go, go. That makes it more likely that you pick [up] a few injuries."